Neon Gendosis Evangelion
by Kaezer
Summary: What if Gendo, for just one single moment, questioned the intelligence of leaving Shinji alone?  What if he decided to keep his son by his side?
1. Gendo's Choice

Gendo clutched his bleeding head, pushing mangled strips of steel off him as he stood. In awe of Unit-01's amazing destructive power, he glanced around the hanger, now blackened by soot, and stained with blood. Flames crackled and people sobbed and screamed from the other side of the thick smokescreen, but one noise crested them all in importance- a child's sobbing. Then he remembered what happened.

"Yui!", he shouted, running down the catwalk, leaping over rubble and gaps while trying to ignore the squelching noises that occasionally came from his feet. With the smoke lightening as he got closer to the crying, he saw the gargantuan purple-armoured humanoid leaning against the steel wall, which was crumpling under its immense weight. The dim white light emanating from the motionless god's eye-lenses seemed to focus on a young boy, standing next to its fist.

The young brown-haired boy's eyes were brimming with tears as he stared at the big robot that had took his mother from him. Gendo too, stared at the God-machine that he and so many others had struggled to make. Now his life's work had taken that which he most loved from him.

He couldn't go on, could he? He had lost her...it was too painful for him. Nor could he even bear to look at his son, who reminded him so much of Yui. It would hurt, but if Gendo wanted to continue the Artificial Evolution Project, he would need to send little Shinji away, so that he is not distracted by the pain.

_Would Yui want that?_

Gendo jolted at the thought. _Telepathy!_ Frantically looking around, he found nobody capable of doing such a thing, and NERV-HQ was warded from the inside against such happenings.

"Oh...fuck." A man, older than Gendo, with his black hair slowly receding into grey, limped to his side, clutching his own side, which was soaked in his blood. "Someone'll need to tell the old men."

Gendo stared at his feet for a few moments, before replying, "You do it, Fuyutsuki.", while taking his labcoat off. Holding the blood-soaked and soot-stained garment in his hands, he walked beside his son, wrapping the boy in the coat and lifting him. The boy, instinctively, buried his head in his father's shoulder, still crying.

Gendo smiled sadly at the boy. "I have a son to take care of, Fuyutsuki."


	2. One Day

A/N; First off, I'd like to thanks all those who favourite'd the story, or added it to their story alerts, but most of all, I'd like to thank my reviewers, Fenrir the vicious and Kallu. Thanks for the support guys!

And I'd like to thank Gregg Landsman, Earthscorpion, Charles Bhepin and Academia Nut for the inspiration they have given me in writing this.

Disclaimer: I don't own Neon Genesis Evangelion.

* * *

Gendo Ikari woke up that day with a splitting headache, having simply threw some bandages around his head wound and took a few painkillers the previous night. Rolling over on his bed, he noted bitterly that he was lying on Yui's side, before pushing himself up from the lilac duvet under him.

Being already clothed, he simply stumbled from his bedroom into the living room and paused, seeing that Fuyutsuki was sitting on the couch, watching the television. The older man looked up at Gendo with reddened, bloodshot eyes. "Sohryu called over the 'Net.", he said, gesturing to the Laptop next to his feet on the coffee table. "SEELE has skipped you over for leader of NERV."

Gendo numbly nodded, sitting in an armchair and trying, in vain, to straighten his creased white shirt. "I thought I was their favoured candidate?" Fuyutsuki leaned back, holding his side through the rip in his shirt, touching the bandages lightly.

"They saw your performance yesterday and weren't impressed." He idly ran his finger along the edge of the tear, stained dark red by his own blood. "Apparently, they wanted you to focus on your work first and ignore your son."

"His mother had just been absorbed by a giant cyborg! What the fuck was I supposed to do!" Gendo took a deep breath, feeling the dizziness from moving so quickly with a massive head injury, he fell back into the chair.

"I'm not criticising you, Gendo.", Fuyutsuki responded. "It's just what SEELE said. Your first priority was, to them, Instrumentality."

They were both silent for some moments. Then the younger man spoke, "Will you watch Shinji while I go to NERV HQ?" Fuyustuki shook his head lightly. "Why not, Kozo?"

"I'm leaving for Germany tonight." The salt-and-pepper haired man replied. "Sohryu wants his daughter out of Project E, thinks she'll break because of her mother's death, and I'm heading for England anyway." The shock played heavily across Gendo's face, before melting into thinly veiled anger.

"Why? Why are you running?" The other man regarded Gendo passively.

"Cyberware Inc. has offered me a lucrative contract, because of my experience in Project E and my pilfering of the data on Kihl's implants."

"That doesn't answer my question."

Fuyutsuki's expression was sad for a moment, before turning passive again. "Akagi's been chosen to puppet NERV an-"

"Akagi!"

Fuyutsuki nodded. "Yes, Akagi." He stood, strolling across the hardwood floor, to glance out the penthouse window. "Under you or Ikari senior, I'd be safe. You valued me. Akagi won't bother to protect me, and trust me, there are a lot of people who'd love to see me dead. In SEELE, in NERV, hell, even in GEHIRN and the Marduk Institute!" His voice dropped to barely a whisper. "It's not safe for me here."

Gendo scratched his head, being sure not to touch the wound. "Who will watch Shinji for me?" Fuyutsuki turned back.

"Uh, I hear Akagi's daughter is in town, staying at her mother's place." Gendo smirked as he stood up.

"Can you call her for me? One last favour?" The 50 year old man smiled.

"Of course, old friend."

* * *

Ring.

Ring.

Ring.

Silence.

Misato Katsuragi breathed a sigh of relief. She'd just feel awkward answering the Akagi's house phone, and now she could just get back to sl-

Ring.

She groaned, rolling out of bed in the Akagi's guest room on to her feet, before lurching out into the hall, past the bathroom occupied by Ritsuko Akagi, using the shower and down the stairs to garb the phone from the coffee table.

"Hello, Akagi household, Misato Katsuragi speaking."

"_Hello? Is Ritsuko there?_"

Misato smiled. "No, sorry, she's in the shower currently. Can I take a message?"

"_Um, I'm Kozo Fuyutsuki. One of her mother's coworkers._"

Misato's mind immediately jumped to the conclusion that Ritsuko's mother was now dead and so she blurted out, "Oh, I'm sorry to hear that!"

There was silence on the line.

"_...hear what?_"

"...nothing!" Thinking fast, she asked, "What was it you wanted!"

"_Oh! Sorry, one of her other co-workers has to work, but he can't get anyone to watch his son, so-_"

"**BABIES!**"

"_What?"_

"Um...babysitting! Isn't that what you want us to do?"

"_Oh, yes! Um, it's apartment 19 on Kazuhito Avenue, can you be here in 30 minutes?"_

"Of course! Count on us, Mr...You didn't say your name sir. ...Sir? ...That son of a bitch hung up on me!"

* * *

Hajime Ikari looked over the bridge crew of NERV as he waited. Soon, NERV would coup GEHIRN and he would be free to join the governing council of SEELE, leaving this operation in Akagi's hands. _All at the cost of my own daughter._

Soon enough, the metal door to his right slid open, and men dressed in black, wearing helmets and bulletproof vests stormed in, MP5s clutched in their hands as they shouted, threatening the bridge crew. Some of the operators tried to resist and had their heads splattered across the consoles they worked at as the troopers opened fire, but most submitted to their captors, including Hajime. While the others were forced to the floor and handcuffed, two soldiers grabbed Hajime by his arms, pulling him away from the scene, out into the corridor.

He smirked as they walked. This would begin the process of merging GEHIRN and NERV, with NERV eventually absorbing all of GEHIRN's assets while retaining its paramilitary status and providing a single, powerful puppet for SEELE. It was flawless, he believed, pondering it as the soldiers let him go, allowing him to walk the rest of the way to the VTOL transport himself.

He felt proud, as he strolled down the steel corridors. When he turned the next corner, he found himself face to face with a Beretta .92. "Hajime Ikari."

He looked into his assassin's eyes. "The truth is..."

* * *

Shinji Ikari had a dilemma. He stood at the door to his room, peeking out the crack. Outside, sitting on his couch, watching TV, were two women. Two very pretty women, but ones that he didn't know. To Shinji's preschool mind, this meant that they were robbers and that he needed to get out of there as fast as he could.

The window of his room had a strange device on it, which Shinji's mother had said children can't open because of its "Maaaaaaagic."

So that was out. As he looked around his sky blue room, the conversation between the purple haired and blonde women was increasing in volume. "What do you mean by that!"

"All I'm saying is that you have terrible taste in men."

"And you haven't been with a man fo...did you leave the front door open?"

Shinji ran down the hall of the apartment building as fast as his stumpy little legs would take him. Which lead to him running into someone's legs.

Ryoji Kaji had seen a lot of things in his time. One of those things was not a child in Super Sentai pyjamas running into his legs. And then crying. "Hey, little guy, what's the matter?" Shinji looked up at him, still crying.

"I-I MISS MY MOMMY!" Ryoji cocked his head, looking at the boy pityingly.

"Come on, let's get you inside," he said, scooping the boy up in his arms. Shinji pressed his face into Ryoji's arm, as Ryoji pressed a hand to the dark brown hair on the back of Shinji's head, carrying him back into the apartment, where Misato and Ritsuko were still arguing.

"Tch, really? Did you have to make the poor kid cry?" Ritsuko and Misato jerked their heads around, seeing Ryoji Kaji standing there, a crying child, the one they were meant to be babysitting in his arms.

"We didn't! She-I-STOP COPYING ME!" The two women yelled at each other in unison. Ryoji shook his head with disapproval, shaggy ponytail swaying with the movement.

"While I kind of expected Ritsuko to make a kid cry, I am shocked at you, Misato." Misato looked down at the couch, ashamed, while Ritsuko glared a hole through Ryoji, making him turn his attention back to Shinji.

"Hey Shinji?" Withdrawing his head from Ryoji's arm, no longer crying but still sniffling, he stared at him. "You like music?" Nodding, the young boy's eyebrow raised. "You ever heard of Queen?"

* * *

Gendo's fingers danced across the keyboard, writing a report like one would ball dance. He had to pause several times and calm himself down while typing it, as his feelings for Yui played up and he almost tore his hair out several times in grief, all the anger and tears not having been let out last night when he screamed and raged into his pillow. For once in his life, Gendo felt outmatched. Beaten. Played.

Weak.

Not only had he lost the only woman he could ever love, he had lost his chance at changing the world. And now he was writing a report on the incident which had killed Yui and cost him his chance.

For the very first time, Gendo had lost control of the situation. He had met an enemy he couldn't outsmart or beat to a pulp. And it scared him senseless.

He didn't hear the gentle hiss of the door opening, and was only alerted by the delicate hands placed on his shoulders. "Oh, Gendo. Are you alright?" His teeth gritted.

"Yes, Naoko. What do you want?" His eyes never left the screen, missing the tiny smirk on her face as one of her hands ran through Gendo's black hair.

"I just wanted to see how you were after yesterday, and I wanted to let you know that it's alright that they chose me over you for the Commander position." The hand moved down, rubbing the back of Gendo's neck. "You'll still be a major person in NERV."

"I wasn't angry about that." His head half-turned as he spoke. "I was angry at your foolishness."

Naoko paused, actually shocked. "Oh?"

His head turned back. "You continue to let Sections three, four, five and eight continue existence despite the threat they present to the Unified Structure of New NERV."

Naoko smiled, lying her cheek on his head. "Oh? And what would you do?"

Shrugging, he replied. "Purge 'em." She sighed, running a finger up the side of Gendo's neck.

"But I hate all that violence. Like what happened to Hajime." The typing stopped. "We put his barely living body in Unit-Zero, you know." A brief laugh emanated from her as she stood up straight. "Like father, like daughter."

Gendo swivelled in his seat, glaring coldly at her, ending her jovial mood immediately. "What-do-you-want.", he ground out. Her smirk returned.

"You, Gendo." Leaning in closer, she continued. "You can feel the attraction, can't you? I just want you _so much._"She straightened once again. "That's why I saved you from Section six's sweep of the tapes. Apparently, the NERV troops destroyed the security room in their coup, silly people." She winked at him, conspiratorially. "Besides, my daughter and her friends are watching Shinji tonight, aren't they? Come up to my office in ten minutes, _Rokubungi._"

Fighting down the urge to murder her for that comment, Gendo turned back to his work as she walked out of his office.

_How humiliating, being reduced to a mere Gigolo for Akagi_, he thought with a hint of bitterness.

_Or a Gendolo_, the light hearted side of him, that he thought had died with Yui, quipped.

Gendo truly laughed at that thought.

* * *

Ryoji looked at his watch again. 11:45PM. Shinji was in bed and Misato and Ritsuko had left, leaving him to take care of the kid. He sighed, just as the door opened and a black haired man in his 30's entered, then did a double take as he looked at Ryoji. "Who are you?"

Ryoji stood from the couch, looking at the man in the ruffled clothes and realising, that his jeans and t-shirt weren't exactly orderly either. "Ryoji Kaji.", he said, offering his hand.

The older man shook it, a small smile on his face. "Gendo Ikari." He looked around. "Where's Ritsuko?"

Ryoji took his hand back, saying, "Her and Misato left for the night."

"Misato?"

Ryoji nodded. "Yeah, Misato Katsuragi, she's Ritsuko's friend." Gendo's eyes widened.

"Hideki's daughter? I thought she died in Antarctica!" The younger man was taken aback.

"You knew her father?" Gendo nodded.

"I worked with him. Left Antarctica a few days before the accident." Gendo looked downcast. "A shame. He was one of the few people opposing the creation of NERV. After his death, there was no one left to oppose the Human Instrumentality Committee." Ryoji's expression grew even more shocked.

"You were in Antarctica! You work with the H-Ay-Cee?" Gendo nodded.

"Anyway, thanks for watching Shinji for me. Is he in bed?"

Ryoji nodded dumbly. "Oh, uh, you were a bit late tonight, so I offered to stay behind and wait for you."

Gendo grinned at the young man. "Thanks, you want to know why I was late?" Ryoji nodded tentatively. "Don't tell Ritsuko, but I was banging her mom." Both of them burst into laughter, and they high-fived.

"You magnificent son of a bitch!" Said the younger one, laughing.

"That's bastard to you." Gendo replied, prompting more laughter.

After their fun, Gendo asked, "You in college?" Nod. "What are you aiming to be?"

"Military," Ryoji said. "Intelligence branch."

Nodding sagely, Gendo replied, "Well, come back to me some time and I'll hook you up with something."

Ryoji smirked. "Cool." He started for the door, saying over his shoulder, "Later!", before stopping.

"By the way," he started. "You might want to consider buying Shinji a guitar when he's older." Gendo quirked an eyebrow, but Ryoji was already gone.

Sighing, the lone man turned to the window, looking out at the lights of the under-construction Tokyo-3. "One day we'll meet again, Yui." His eyes narrowed. "One day."


	3. Memories

A/N: Review replying!

Kallu: Very differently! and Thank you!

CB93: Gendo wouldn't be a believable father otherwise.

James Rei's guardian: See for yourself!

KKND2: Well, this is a rather large Point of Divergence in EVA, and so characters being different is to be expected. Well, either that or I can't do characterisation. :/

Now, enjoy!

* * *

_2004_

Shining through the darkness of the room were 12 red numbers, from 01 to 12, each shining on a black monolith, above the words "-SOUND ONLY-".

Emanating from 01 were the words of a man, a wizened German accent, supported by a synthesised voice backing it. "I do not know if Akagi was the right choice."

04 spoke. "Ikari would not have been reliable, if he had to split his attention with his child."

Followed by 07. "Speaking of Ikaris, I believe Akagi may be hindering our agents in our attempts to corner Hajime's killer."

10 spoke after. "Feh, let the old fool go unmourned. He's provided us handily with another Evangelion Unit, courtesy of his soul."

01 replied. "I am more concerned of our inability to convince Germany, China and Russia to support NERV. They believe it is an attempt by the UN to establish a New World Order."

02 quipped. "They wish."

03 responded. "Indeed, my attempts to convince the Federal Government to increase support the aych-aye-see have fallen flat. Moscow is not yielding."

05 concurred. "The Emperor does not wish to support what they see as Nihon's arm into World Politics."

11 thought aloud. "Does this have anything to do with Akagi's diplomacy skills? I have been told that they are...lacking."

10 continued. "Yes, she is not the wisest leader. It seems that due to her inability to cope, we may be forced to reshuffle Council and Committee."

06 sounded aghast. "You mean...?"

10 finished for him. "Yes. The World War Three scenario."

01 asked. "All in favour?"

Only one of them spoke nay. It was 06, the German rep on the Human Instrumentality Committee, but he was overruled, and later that week, the nations of Russia, China and Germany declared war on NERV.

* * *

_2007_

The light green wallpaper was now associated with everything Ritsuko Akagi hated about work. It was the only thing on the wall, mainly because there was only one child who came through here on the Saturdays she was assigned to watch it. One Shinji Ikari. Sure, he was like the little brother she never had, but that didn't stop her hating looking after him.

It wasn't that he was a hyperactive child, no. It was the exact _opposite._ He did _nothing!_ Not even one childish misdemeanour in the past two months. However, Ritsuko had found a way to remedy that, get the kid's blood pumping. A new animated series was airing on the Imperial Televison Network. The name was very random, she thought, before putting it on for Shinji on the Plasma TV that her mother had splurged for in the daycare.

"_**TENGEN TOPPA GURREN LAGANN! WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK WE ARE!"**_

"WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK I AM!" It had worked, unfortunately for her.

"Shinji, it wasn't clever the first time you said it." Ritsuko sighed, her face balanced on her fist as she continued, "And it STILL isn't clever." Shinji huffed at her, and he turned to find some toys when he froze, eyes locked on the doorway. Ritsuko frowned, looking to the door as well, only to find her mother standing with a cheshire grin.

_Maybe she finally caught Tweety._

"Hey Shinji!" Naoko said, bending to meet him at his eye level. "Whatcha doin?" Shinji's eyes shifted.

_Nope. No Tweety. Just some Lasagne._

"Nooooooothin." Naoko pouted, falsely.

"Aww, is that cause you don't have a playmate?" Ritsuko's eyes widened.

_Oh god! Not a regular kid! That'll be like mixing water and Sodium!_

Naoko stood up straight, calling over her shoulder, "Rei! Come in!" Through the doorway walked a child that made Ritsuko's blood chill a little. Faded blue hair curved around her face in a pageboy cut, her blood red eyes glinted in the bright light of the room and her pale, ghostly skin topped off the creepy package.

But she wore a pretty pink and red dress, so it kind of balanced out. The girl's eyes flicked between Ritsuko and Shinji with almost disinterest. "My name is Rei Ayanami." She said, her voice almost a whisper compare to the others'. Naoko smiled at the little girl. "I have taken up guardianship of her, so please, Ritsuko, be careful with her won't you?" Ritsuko grunted.

"Oh yes, I promise that I'll avoid sticking her into a woodchipper."

"That would be inadvisable." Rei replied, startling Ritsuko, who stared at her like she was some sort of little monster, which, to Ritsuko, she probably was. Naoko chuckled as she walked out the room.

"Have fuuuun!" she shouted behind her as the door slid closed. Afterwards, a silence settled on the room, as Rei looked between Ritsuko, whom looked back, bored, and Shinji, who looked like he had seen a ghost.

Warily, the 7-year-old approached Shinji, who was now contemplating his navel, though there was a picture of a red robot with green flames coming out its back over said belly button. "What's that?", she questioned him, in an attempt to break the ice.

He looked up at her, seeing her also staring at where his belly button should be, replaced by a pair of red mech feet. "It's Tengen Toppa GURREN LAGANN!" As he exclaimed this, he thrust his finger up into the sky, eliciting a groan from the desk in the corner.

Rei tilted her head, her curiosity peaking at record levels. "Which is...?"

Shinji's hands balled into fists as he launched into the passionately explained the concept of Spiral Power and how amazingly MANLY it was. Rei's eyes grew wider and her jaw dropped lower and lower throughout the explanation. Eventually it topped out with the description of Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann's battle with the Grand Zamboa.

"So Spiral power is how much you want to do something?", she asked after it all, making Shinji nod.

"It's what made humans evolve!" Shinji's eyes narrowed. "But we cannot evolve any more." Rei blinked.

"Why not?"

"It might create..." his voice got low, causing Rei to lean in to hear. "...THE SPIRAL NEMESIS!"

"Ah!" Rei jumped back a few feet. "What's that?"

Ritsuko groaned. This was going to be a long day.

* * *

Gendo ruffled his son's hair as he got into the car. "How was your day?" he asked Shinji as the latter put his seatbelt on.

Shinji looked out the car window, watching the walls moving as Gendo put the car into drive. "It was okay." He looked back at his father. "There was a new girl in the daycare centre."

Eyes on the road, Gendo nodded. "Yes, Ayanami Rei. Naoko took her around the office before she brought her to daycare. Interesting hair colour, don't you think?"

Shinji's face dropped. "She looks like mom." Gendo's arms tensed a little, but Shinji didn't notice.

"Well, there's bound to be girls that look like your mother. After all, the Westerners all say that our people all look the same." Smiling back at Shinji, he continued, "Besides, you might even like her! Just give people a chance, okay Shinji?"

A small smile crawled across Shinji's face as he nodded back at his father. "Okay dad."

Gendo sighed internally. _Don't be Oedipus. Don't be Oedipus. Don't be Oedipus. PLEASE, don't be Oedipus._

* * *

_2008_

Shinji poked Rei in the back of the head. "Is she gone yet?" Rei looked back at him, her features displaying an 'are you kidding?' look. "...Is that a no?"

Rei had come a long way over the past year, breaking slightly from the shell she had built around herself, mainly through influence from Shinji and Anime. Though, Ritsuko's drier sarcastic attitude had dripped its way into her personality as well.

Rei turned to him fully, crossing her arms. "There is only ONE way out of the room. How, pray, would she get out any way, bar this one?"

Flailing his arms, Shinji whispered excitedly, "Shhhh! Keep your voice down!"

"Why?"

"Bec-" Slowly working, his ears came to the realisation, that _wasn't Rei._ Looking behind him, he saw a pair of legs, long and thin jutting from a black skirt, which had a white shirt on top of it, topped off by Ritsuko Akagi's head, bottle blonde hair short as always.

"I'd really like to hear the explanation for this, Dummy Duo." Shinji giggled.

"Now that, Ritskie, is hilarious, you sho-"

"Stop changing the subject."

"Yes ma'am."

Ritsuko turned her attention to Rei. "Dummy Uno, what's the problem?"

Rei looked up at the blonde with something approaching fear on her face. "There is a stranger in the daycare centre!" she whispered. Ritsuko frowned, leaning over them to peek in the door.

A young girl with fiery red hair sat on one of the chairs, her blue eyes downcast and sad. Ritsuko slapped her face in annoyance. "Now I remember..."

The two kids leered up at her, creeping her out quite handily. "That's Asuka. Her guardian was here to visit your father, Shinji."

"Why?" Ritsuko shrugged.

"Business, I guess."

* * *

Their glares met each other, intensifying the air.

"Let's do this." Gendo growled.

"Indeed." Fuyutsuki answered.

This was drowned out by the NERV staff shouting "CHUG! CHUG! CHUG!", in the background, watching these two men chug hot sauce.

* * *

Asuka looked up at the people walking in to the room and smiled. _Yay! New friends!_ Her eyes were drawn to the young blunette, whom eyed her cautiously, standing behind a brown haired boy who himself looked nervous.

The blond woman with them smiled soothingly at Asuka. "I'm Ritsuko Akagi, I look after the children in this room." She then muttered, "Cause mom's being a bitch about real work..."

Asuka, however, was not listening to the woman, causing Ritsuko to frown and stalk off to her desk. Instead, Asuka was staring intently at the boy, who would glance up occasionally at her, before quickly averting his blur eyes to the floor, while the other girl's red eyes were never off Asuka, a hint of annoyance lying in her eyes.

Asuka raised a hand to the boy. "Want to play?" He smiled. Asuka smiled. Everyone smiled. Except Rei, who kept cautiously eyeing Asuka for the rest of the day.

* * *

_2009_

"I'm not so sure about this, Shinji." Rei said, before Shinji shushed her. The metallic hallways loomed before them, light shining off the surfaces and heightening their chance of detection. Looking both ways at a T-junction and seeing nobody, Shinji motioned to Rei to follow, and she did, following him down the right-hand corridor.

They came to a door, double layered in steel, with bars crossing over it to prevent brute force from damaging it.

Producing a keycard from his shirt pocket, marked for a Miss Ritsuko Akagi, Shinji ran it through the card reader, smirking as the bars slid into the ceiling and floor and the door was pulled in two halves to the left and right. Rei had to admit, she smirked a little too.

* * *

"So, Ritsuko, I-" Ryoji Kaji, fresh from the Occupied Germanies, stared at one of his best friends, tied up with rope and with a teddy bear stuck in her mouth, lying on the floor of the day care centre- Now renamed the Child Room.

He grinned. "Misato's into that, too!" Ritsuko responded by angrily muffling and wiggling her bottom a bit.

* * *

Rei and Shinji were quite underwhelmed by this part of the facility. All that was really different was a long window replacing the wall to their left. Rei gave Shinji a blank look. "This was completely worth it, _Ikari._" Shinji glared back at her.

"You never know unless you try!" He looked around, before walking to the window. "I Wonder wha..." Stopping dead in his tracks, his eyes betrayed a look of shock and horror.

His companion glared at him. "I know what you're doing, Ikari and it won't work!" Crossing her arms, she turned away from him. Still looking at him out of the corner of her eye, she saw something shiny trailing down his face.

Turning back to him, she was shocked to see tears freely cascading down his face as he cried out, "Mommy! Mommy!" Rei ran to his side, wrapping her small arms around him.

"What is it!" She asked, in hysterics as he bucked and shook, bawling his eyes out. From the window, she could see a giant..._thing._ It stood upright like a human, but it was near skyscraper sized, plated with purple and two fins erupting from its shoulders. She had heard only one word in her entire life, which could describe it: _God._

* * *

"It ate mommy..." He muttered again, clutching a teddy bear. Gendo sighed, looking down at his son with a look of pity and concern. Ritsuko stroked his hair absently, trying to calm the distraught boy down. Kaji leaned against the wall, turning a box over in his hands. The box was simply wrapped. Just some regular brown packaging paper.

In it, was a pet project he had got for Shinji. A boxset of an animated series from the west that he had seen while in London for a few days visiting Fuyutsuki and Asuka. He had bought it so that Shinji would learn English, since Shinji wouldn't want to miss out on a western mecha show, which was a useful thing to know, these days.

Sitting the box on the coffee table, he left the room, heading into the kitchen to rummage up some food.

Rei looked at Shinji from across the room, concerned, before that was replaced by a look of determination. Why was he so whiny? She never had parents to start with and SHE was fine! Jumping off her seat, she marched over to Shinji and, much to Ritsuko and Gendo's bewilderment, PUNCHED HIM IN THE FACE.

Grabbing him by the scruff of his neck, she hauled him off the chair, glaring darkly into his eyes. "Your mom is dead! She's gone! But she's there in your eyes, and here in your heart! She lives on as a part of you! If you're gonna dig, dig to the heavens! No matter what's in our way we won't stop! Once we've dug through...it means that we've won! Just who the hell do you think you are? You're Shinji! You love Giant robots! SO MARCH DOWN TO NERV AND TAME IT WITH YOUR FISTS!"

The fire in her eyes dissipated, replaced by her casual annoyance as she finished, "Please, and thank you."

Shinji looked deep into her eyes, before a single tear rolled from his eye and he nodded, filled with hope and manliness. Gendo merely shrugged when Ritsuko looked to him for reasoning. It happens, he seemed to say.

* * *

_2010_

Every year, Kozo Fuyutsuki visits Gendo Ikari in Tokyo-3, both to chat and catch up, but mostly to do something wildly crazy and physics defying.

This year's event had just finished and as such, NERV was cleaning up large amounts of tapioca and capturing escaped penguins. They had yet to find a way to deal with the Panda in the cramped space of NERV's hallways, however.

The young interns, Makoto Hyuuga and Shigeru Aoba looked on in amazement at the aftermath of the "Twenty Dollar Incident", as it would be known later. They followed Ritsuko Akagi down further into the complex, past the medbay where a black-haired man with an intense look in his eyes was being treated for a burn on his forehead, shaped like a smiley face.

Finally, they reached the Child Room and realised that Ritsuko had been talking this whole time and had turned to them questioningly. Nodding their heads, they agreed with whatever she had just said.

Which is why they were rather shocked when she ran off screaming, "I'M FREE! HAHAHA!"

"What was that all about?" Makoto whispered to Shigeru, who just shrugged.

"Hope everyone around here isn't as unhinged as her." They turned to enter the room when they noticed a third presence near them, and jumped when they realised it was the man from before. The man pushed a pair of glasses up his nose, to just under the smiley face before he spoke.

"Can either of you play guitar?" He glanced at both of them coldly. Shigeru raised his arm, cautiously.

"I-I can, dude." Gendo grinned evilly.

"Can you teach my son?" Shigeru nodded, causing the man to laugh, slapping him on the back. "Good, Good! I'm Dr. Gendo Ikari, and that will be your job each Saturday and Sunday for the next six years. You got your guitar?" Shigeru shook his head, long brown hair shaking with it. "No matter, we've got a few, just go down to Section 2's main office on floor 3-B fetch one and come back up here."

The long haired man raised an eyebrow. "Don't you need two guitars?"

"I knew you were coming, so I bought my son a guitar already, Mr. Cobalt Sky." Aoba took off at a sprint, to be as far away as possible from this terrifying man who probably knew more about him than he himself.

Grinning, said Terrifying Man turned to Makoto, shoving a thousand yen into his hand. "Go in there and I don't know, babysit Rei. Take her out for Ice Cream or something."

Makoto, disbelievingly, replied, "You trust me with a kid? Isn't that a bit irresponsible?" Gendo's eyes narrowed.

"No, I just know you're not stupid enough to piss off an organisation that knows whether you take a leak or a shit in the bathroom, Mr. Hyuuga."

And so, Makoto Hyuuga found himself walking down a Tokyo-3 street, holding a little Blunette girl's hand while she ate Ice-Cream.

"So, how's School?"

"Boring." Makoto smiled.

"That it is." Rei looked back up at him.

"Does it get better?" The glasses-wearing man shook his head.

"Not really." They were silent for a few seconds. Then Rei's head shot up.

"The park! Can we go to the park?" Hyuuga nodded, crossing the street with his charge.

He sat on a park bench next to the cobbled path, while Rei ran around in the green grass, bothering the butterflies and tackling an orange cat at one point. Taking in a deep breath, he stared at the sky, briefly amazed by its scale and beautiful Azure emptiness. Sighing, he looked back at Rei, only to find her missing. Jumping up, whipping his head left and right, he spotted the blue mop of hair on her head, and her hand being held by a greasy looking older man.

With a battle cry, he charged forward, bowling a Buddhist missionary over and kicking the cat from before into the side of a bin. Legging it faster than he ever though he could, he met the man just as he turned around, headbutting him in the face. The man clutched his face as he reeled backwards, crying out in pain, and was silenced as Makoto's follow up punch floored him.

"Congratulations." With that, Gendo Ikari stepped from the shadow of a nearby tree. "You've passed the test."

Makoto punched him too.

* * *

"It was all a setup?" Shigeru stared at the other man as they stood on the subway, blinking in disbelief. Makoto nodded sagely, rubbing the swelling of his black eye.

"Well, it was, until I punched Dr. Ikari in the face. Then it just turned into a fistfight." He sighed. "There were girls taking pictures when we stumbled into the fountain." Looking blankly at the other man, he asked, "How was your day?"

Shigeru shrugged. "That kid's a natural with an instrument. We're halfway through Princes of the Universe."

"Huh." They fell silent, neither believing the luck the other had at work that day.

* * *

"So, why did he punch you?" Standing in the same spot that his father had fistfought Mr. Hyuuga, Shinji threw a baseball to his father, who threw it back accordingly.

"I don't know." Gendo tossed it back to his son, despite the late afternoon glare from the setting sun. "Maybe he thought I was trying to sell Rei into human trafficking." Shinji paused in his throwing motion.

"What's human trafficking?"

"You'll learn when you're older, son."

* * *

_2011_

Ritsuko sat in her cramped office quietly, looking over the mass amount of paperwork. Nowadays, she kind of missed looking after those kids. Indeed, when she was supervising them, she often thought she'd get to work on the big projects, Evangelion and Instrumentality. Instead, she was looking over requisition forms and mending people's arms when they fall off scaffoldings. She'd get the occasional call from Misato, doing her Training in the Moscow Military District, but that was the most excitement she got.

Hell, Shinji had been tempered by the Guitar slightly, she had heard. Makoto had his hands full with Rei, unsurprisingly. She was cold and distant, but still so spunky and adventurous, and that hadn't changed, it seemed. Now, she only saw them briefly and occasionally, having been moved up to Matsushiro. Sighing, inside she wished she could see them again.

Drip.

_Why did something drip into my Coffee?_ She looked up and saw a crack forming across the ceiling. "What the...?" The crack got longer and started to distend. Finally, the ceiling broke. Water flooded out, ruining all the paperwork, to which she screamed, "NO! NO!", and then her wheelie chair was washed out of the office and down the corridor, coming to a stop at the end wall.

She blinked. Rei and Shinji stared at her from the floor, in soaking wet chicken suits. "I know what you're thinking and-"

"_**WHAT. THE. F-"**_

* * *

_2012_

Hikari Horaki laid the school issued laptop lightly on the bed. She had received it in a package, days before today, which was her first day of Junior High. She was so excited! Not only would she meet new people, but she would also continue the Horaki dynasty as it was called, following in her sister Kodama's footsteps. _Mom would be so proud,_ she thought to herself as she buttoned up her blouse.

Maybe she'd even impress Touji! Now THAT was a thought. Packing up her bag, she skipped merrily downstairs to make breakfast and lunch for her family.

* * *

"You have to admit, it did look kind of suspicious. How was Ritsuko supposed to know it was the result of one of dad and uncle Fuyutsuki's fights?"

Rei scoffed at his opinions. "Well, she could have at least asked, instead of trying to-" CREAK. She glared at the desk she sat on. "This School is underfunded."

Jumping off the desk, she kicked one of the legs, rattling the whole thing. Everyone's eyes seemed to be drawn to her, the blue-haired ice queen with anger problems. A few people that weren't Shinji tried talking to her. She scared them away with little more than her eyes and facial muscles.

Eventually, the teacher wandered in and class started with the first business: The election of Class Rep. To few surprises, Hikari Horaki's hand raised above her head as she nominated herself, smile on her face and brown eyes alight with happiness...until Rei's hand shot up, nominating her as well.

In an unprecedented result, a Horaki lost an election in a landslide vote. Everyone was terrified of the Blunette, who immediately began abusing her dictatorial power to an extreme, declaring Shinji Vice-Representative and drafting the local military geek, Kensuke Aida as the leader of Riot Unit One, her own official police force. When she was toppled in a democratic election next year, it would be compared to the Velvet Revolution.

But that was a story for another time, and ours involved Hikari Horaki, popularly known as Class A Representative in Exile.

She dejectedly shut down her laptop as the day wound to an end, closing the computer up and sliding it into her bag.

Standing up, she saw Shinji begin to make his way over to her. She faked a smile, chirping, "Hello!" at him.

He smiled back. "Listen, I'm sorry about the election." Averting his eyes to Rei, he shook his head as he saw her giving the four members of Riot Unit One batons to deal with unruly students. "She can get a bit unhinged at times." Hikari looked at it too, sadly.

"It's just..." she started, causing Shinji to turn back. "...there's been so much pressure put on me." She leaned against her desk, sighing. "My sister, Kodama, she was class rep before me, and I've been class rep for every year since elementary, so..." She chuckled. "Why am I even telling you this?"

Her grey eyes looked up into Shinji's blue ones. "But thanks...for caring."

Shinji smiled at her. "It's okay, I-" His sentence was cut off by Rei latching onto his arm and dragging him away, yelling something about "Civil Disobedience."

As she watched him go, Hikari couldn't help but smile.

* * *

_2013_

Shigeru Aoba looked over his monitor for the twenty-third time that day. Evangelion's vitals stable. He sighed, leaning back into his chair, and letting JAM Project rock his skull from his headphones. This job was very boring. When were those hippies gonna get off their asses and blow something up with this thing!

A hand waved in front of his face, expecting to find Hyuuga with some nerdy new fact or Dr. Ikari hounding him for something he pulled, he turned. Instead, he found an attractive young woman in the NERV uniform. He took it all in, that short brown hair, those welcoming brown eyes, the soft, supple curves of her body and the silky thighs which slid down from underneath her skirt. _Woof._

Taking off his headphones, he extended a hand. "Hi, I'm Shigeru Aoba, how can I help?"

The woman took his hand eagerly. "I'm Maya Ibuki and I'm new here. I was directed up here, and I was wondering where my workstation was?"

Oh, so she was the new recruit. Shigeru gestured to a monitor next to Makoto's. "That's yours. My co-worker Hyuuga deals with new people. He'll just be along in a moment to assist you."

"Thanks!" She bounced off to start working. All the while, Shigeru was watching her strutting dat ass.

* * *

_2014_

"So they should have arrived this year?"

"Yes."

"But they haven't?"

"Indeed."

"So what shall we do?"

"Begin Ayanami and Ikari's training, Akagi."

"Yes, Mr. Lorenz."

* * *

Shinji held back the bile that threatened to wash from his lips.

"You want me to-to PILOT th-this THING!" He turned back to his father, snarling, "IT KILLED MOM!"

"It's our only hope of defeating the Angels!" Gendo yelled back, fists clenching. Shinji laughed back at him, bitterly.

"I've never heard of these angels, HAVE YOU!" He screamed to the workers scurrying around doing various menial tasks. "Well then! Guess that's a no!"

Gendo took a step towards his son and slugged him in the face, pushing him against the railing. At once, all the noise stopped as Gendo hauled his son to his feet by his hair.

"Fine." He threw Shinji aside and walked away a few paces, then stopped. "But remember.", he said over his shoulder. "Rei will pilot hers. And you'll be leaving her to die against the Angels."

Shinji was silent as he got to his feet, but he spoke as soon as he was standing. "I'll do it." Turning his head to the formerly-purple-but-now-blue titan, he whispered, "I'll do it."

His voice boomed as he yelled, "IT MAY HAVE TAKEN MY MOTHER, BUT THOSE BASTARDS WON'T TAKE MY REI!" Gendo smiled warmly at his son, even while the mechanics and techs cheered him on.

* * *

_2015_

Kensuke lamented the end of the Ayanami regime, as it meant the end of Riot Unit One. The end of that meant the end of his extracurricular powers. However, he was saving his energy for a grand scheme to get Rei elected President in High School. Which would lead to infinitely greater powers.

He approached Ayanami during Lunch, to inform her of the plan and also, to work his mojo on her.

"Nah, I don't want to.", she said in response to his plan.

His face may have literally fell off if that was possible. But it wasn't. So it didn't.

"Wh-WHY NOT!"

"It was boring." She said before skipping off.

In Kensuke's mind, however, this was a blessing. HE could rule instead! And so he laughed evilly at his evil plan.

* * *

_**2016**_

_**

* * *

**_Lots of Comic Relief in this one. Remember to R&R!


	4. This Is War

A/N: Sorry for the delay, personal issues.

* * *

Rising from the waterlogged ruins of Old Tokyo, the being's brown, slimy hide reflected the midday sun as it moved forward for land. Crawling atop the shore, it attempted to stand up, before its skinny knees buckled and it pitched forward, smashing the exoskeletal bird skull, ribcage and the shiny red sphere in its chest several feet into the ground.

A life underwater had not done wonders for its terrestrial functions, it seemed, though it eventually managed to stay upright. Raising its "face" to the sky, it vocalised onto a wavelength of sound unknown to most Lilithian life.

_**IREUL. SISTER.**_

Another voice replied in the same manner: _**SACHIEL. BROTHER.**_

_**ARE YOU IN POSITION.**_

_**INDEED. COMMENCE ATTACK.**_

_**IMMEDIATELY.**_

_**UNDERSTOOD.**_

The massive girth of Sachiel lumbered forth, determined to find the father and exterminate the Lilim threat.

* * *

Shinji rubbed his arms to create some warmth, though, in the LCL, that was unlikely to do anything. Looking at a holographic viewscreen to his left, he smiled. Rei was upside down in her entry plug, her red eyes half shut in concentration over something.

"What's the matter, Rei?" Blinking her eyes open, the blunette spun her body around to an upright position.

"I thought I heard a voice..." Shinji frowned.

"What do you mean?" Rei shrugged.

"I dunno, they sounded really far off." She sighed. "How much longer is this going to ta-"

"_Level Seraphim Alert! All Personnel to Battlestations!"_

* * *

Sachiel glanced to the sky, hearing the hum of the human war machines before seeing them. The VTOLs were black specks against the blue sky as they approached, loaded to the brim with thermobaric, chemical and conventional weaponry. Which they then unleashed upon Sachiel.

Buzzing with power, the being ignored the artificial wings which the Lilim had granted themselves. Experimental XS-01 gas was neutralised by Its AT Field, being blown back into the surrounding trees, murdering the unlucky animals caught in the cloud and wilting plants. White phosphorous burned against the field ineffectively, and much was instead redirected into the surroundings, setting the forest alight. Finally, the missiles and slugs collided with the Field as well, and the force of their blasts levelled what remained of the woodland.

Yet, Sachiel continued on. And Its eyes glowed, signalling death for those who dared to stand against It.

* * *

Naoko Akagi's brown eyes narrowed behind her eyeglasses as the final VTOL camera disappeared in a flash of pink energy and static snow. To her right, Sub-Commander Ikari stood, stock still, betraying no emotion, despite that this was likely going to be his son's first sortie. Inwardly, Naoko smirked. He was loyal to her. No one else.

"Lieutenant Colonel Mordheim." Her tone was flat and even as she called on her Director of Operations, a 30-something German, who likely would have been the perfect SS troop, with his blond hair, blue eyes and ability to look stunning in a military outfit. The man looked up to the Commander's perch, the coldness in his eyes accentuated by the scar running down, from crown to chin. "Launch Units Zero and One in preparation for imminent attack." The man nodded, tapping the ear piece on his head.

"Sortie Units Zero One and Zero Zero, and dispatch the First Air Regiment and the Armored Corps is sup-"

"That will not be necessary. The Evangelions shall suffice." Mordheim turned back to Naoko, surprise appearing for a split second before being ruthlessly crushed by the emergence of coldest fury.

"_Frau_ Akagi, that is most unwise. We may be able to reduce collateral damage and prevent unnecessary casualt-"

"This is not up for debate, Mordheim." The man growled out an affirmative, turning back to the main screen, where the Imperial Air Force had just dropped an N2 onto Sachiel.

Gendo leaned down to his superior, whispering to her, "His reasoning is sound." Naoko wrapped her arm up around his neck affectionately, eyes still overlooking the workplace.

"Ah, but my little boy toy, I need to teach the people of Earth loyalty. They need to rely on me, on us." Slyly smirking, she kissed his cheek. "They won't learn that by developing delusions of grandeur, thinking that their militaries can fight on even ground with the Angels."

Pulling his head free from her grip, he continued, "That's not all. There's something else."

Frowning at his escape from her, she answered, "Of course. I don't believe Rei has been loyal to us for some time and has developed some mental defects. If we rid ourselves of her, we can create a new copy easily."

She didn't notice his scowl, far more murderous than that of Mordheim.

* * *

"_DEAR GOD! IT'S STILL ALIVE!"_

"_AKAGI! ...we're giving you command over combat operations."_

"_Good that you've seen reason, gentlemen. Mr. Mordheim?"_

"_Launch all Evas! Now, show that Alien bastard Justice!"_

"_YAY! FIGHTY TIME!" _Rei chirped over the Comlink, flipping to a sitting position on the pilot seat. "_GOD'S ASS IS GRASS!" _Shinji smirked, grabbing the piloting yoke and readying himself.

"Yeah, Rei, we'll fight through the Angels to pierce heaven itself." Over the viewscreen, Rei grinned devilishly.

"_We'll show them that only humanity can wipe itself out!" _ Closing his eyes, Shinji felt the rumble as the Electromagnetic Rails connected to the EVA's back. _I'll avenge you, mother. I'll destroy them all._

However, just as the EVA took off, a voice spoke into his mind. _**IMPROBABLE. LILIM. **_And his body burst into horrific pain.

* * *

Gendo's heart almost burst as he saw Unit 01 spasm, breaking off the rails and grinding against the wall for a half-kilometer upwards, before tumbling raggedly downwards, clawing at itself as it did. Playing over as the soundtrack to this event was his son's screams of pain. Before Camera No. 2347 caught the impact of the EVA against the Maintenance deck, Gendo had already slid down the emergency ladder, sprinting through corridors.

* * *

"**SHINJI!"** Came the cry of anguish from Rei, who heard the sickening crash over the Comlink just as she reached city level. "GET ME BACK DOWN THERE, I NEED TO HELP HIM!"

"_Pilot Ayanami. Please, keep a clear head."_ came Mordheim's incredibly neutral voice from the viewscreen marked, SOUND-ONLY.

Growling, the bluenette tried to break the yokes in her hands by squeezing as hard as possible. They did not budge. Neither did the EVA, still gripped by the standing supports at its sides. "I'll kill you for this."

"_You'll have plenty of time for that after this Angel dies."_ Finally, defeated, she sighed.

"Okay, let me fight this bastard then. Release the supports!"

"_...I can't."_ Everyone in the Command Centre flinched at Rei's resulting glare.

"What. Did. You. Say." Every word, she blinked her red eyes, trying to remember _why_ she hadn't killed these people yet.

"_It's being denied at th-"_ Interference took over.

"Mordheim?" No response.

"Shinji?" No response.

"...mommy? Daddy? " She whimpered pathetically.

_**A HALF-BLOOD PILOTING A FALLEN. AMUSING.**_

In a brilliant flash of pink, the right support disappeared, taking the majority of her EVA's right arm with it. Pain flared through her actual limb, but the fight or flight response took over, wrenching the EVA's left arm from the support keeping it captive, and the white armoured beast dropped into a forward roll, snapping off the charred remnants of its right shoulder and crushing much of the street under its bulk.

Springing to a standing position, its single red eye scanned the cityscape for its opponent, but failed to check behind it in time to avoid a large green fist slamming into the back of its head, throwing its weight forward. Stumbling, it grasped for a handhold, settling on the edge of an office building. Metal and concrete strained to hold its weight as it pushed itself back up, only for Sachiel to come crashing down on its head, tearing a good deal of the armour away.

Rei gripped the left yoke as hard as she could, her right arm now useless, trying to force Sachiel off her head, trying to unbalance it, but its foot remained firmly planted on her head.

Sachiel looked down at the squirming titan and mentally smirked. _**FINALLY. TO REMOVE THE LILIMIC STAIN. **_From the sole of its foot, there was a pink flare, stabbing through the head of Unit 00.

* * *

Gendo couldn't look. EVA 01 was currently tearing pieces of armour and flesh away from itself, indiscriminately, while broadcasting the cries of his son across the entire hanger. The blue shards of armour lay embedded in the floor and walls, and everything sitting on the floor was now crushed by the sprawling and rolling body of Unit 01.

_It's an angel. _He realised. _It's in the EVA's body and it's killing Shinji and Yui will die with him._ Slowly, he sank to his knees, hopelessly realising that he had lost everything.

* * *

Shinji's body quaked, but still he gripped the yokes, even as his determination to fight the cancerous growth in his EVA slipped.

_**YOU CANNOT WIN.**_

He was beginning to believe this.

_**GIVE IN AND IT SHALL BE PAINLESS.**_

His fingers began to give way, easing from the controls.

"_Shi-i -ei d-e-d."_

_What?_

"_-inj- R-d-d"_

_What!_

"_SHINJI, REI'S DEAD!"_

He took a quick breath.

* * *

Sachiel stepped from the dead god, inwardly smiling. **_FINALLY. PURITY._**

_**SACHIEL. ASSISTANCE. I REQUIRE-AAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUGGGGHHHHHH.**_

_**IREUL. WHAT IS MATTERING.**_

_**HE IS USING ME AS POWER. HE IS DEFLING ME I-**_

_**IREUL.**_

There was a cold numbness where Ireul's presence had once been and for once, Sachiel grew concerned.

Even more so when the street erupted and a bloody, battered being clothed in an aura of gold, eyes glowing white with wings shining of orange.

_**I AM SISTER OF HER.**_

_**SHE IS LILITH. I AM EVE.**_

_**AND I AM PISSED.**_

* * *

"...Yui?"


	5. And The World Shakes Itself Apart

_Rei Ayanami fell out of the tube when the glass slid away, removing the support her weight was leaning against. Her body, nude and dripping with LCL, collided heavily with the floor and she moaned in pain._

_Blinking the blurred lights from her eyes, she rested her head against the floor, content to look at the legs of the two people in the room. One of them, wearing high heeled shoes clacked her way over to Rei, dropping a white sheet across her body, before saying something, muffled by the liquid still in Rei's ears, and walking away, her companion following after a few minutes._

The memories replayed themselves in her head. She should be dead and gone. She felt the brain-frying pain of the EVA's CNS incinerating. Her body had shut down. Blood had flowed from her every orifice. But she was still alive. They had brought her back to life.

How had they done that? Had they grounded her soul? Stolen her from Heaven or Hell? Well, they were fighting Angels so, point to that theory. But it just seemed _wrong._ She was, by the powers of fate, _dead_ and NERV felt arrogant enough to bring her back to life?

Which raised a further point: _Where the fuck did they get this body?_ Her body should not have been recoverable from the sympathetic pain dealt to her Nervous System and brain. So was she actually a clone? Maybe there are clones of Shinji, too! She came to realisation, too, that she hadn't seen Shinji in a while either.

Of course, as soon as Dr. Ikari escorted her from that area where she was reborn, he had left her to her own devices. She had meant to find Shinji, but before she could, alarms started to blare and before she knew it, heavily armed men, likely from Section 8, had grabbed her and thrown her into this self contained cell. It had a bathroom, a bed and the NERV symbol painted on the wall, but was otherwise grey and nondescript.

They only seemed to take her out for Sync Tests, which were in the Simulation Bodies, rather than the actual Units now, as Zerogouki was still out for the count and wasn't likely to be repaired in the next month, and Shogouki was "put on ice", for reasons yet unbeknownst to her.

She sighed. Things were supposed to be simple when you had a Giant Robot.

* * *

_Gendo blinked, gaping at the young woman before him_

"_Like her?" Naoko smirked._

_Gendo shook his head. _No, this thing is an abomination, an affront to Yui!_ He did not vocalise as such. _

"_Well, Gendo, it doesn't matter what you think of her, she's going to be a much more loyal agent than that damned Ayanami." Gendo scoffed internally. Rei was a lovely young girl, even though she was based on Yui, though, not actually made from Yui's genes, because of SEELE's plan to breed her and Shinji, should the Angel War drag on and more pilots be needed. Rei was a beautiful tribute to Yui. This thing wasn't._

_The girl before the two of them remained still, her green eyes -_Just like Yui's, _Gendo realised- remained unblinking._

"_Besides, we need a pilot for Unit Two, once it gets here from Brazil. With the other two Units unavailable, we're a sitting duck with Lilith here." Naoko turned back from her desk to look out the window to the Geofront, which was illuminated by the massive UV lights embedded into the ceiling, but which gave it about as much light as the setting sun, and set a yellowy haze across the green landscape._

_Gendo took this time to speak up. "Naoko, despite whatever personality defects Rei might suffer from, she's still valuable-"_

"_Oh, I know Gendo," she interrupted him, turning back from the Window, "why do you think I let one more Rei clone be created before I dissolved them all? But not to worry, SEELE will be sending us the Material for Yui here in another-" Which is when a bullet chose this time as an opportune moment to shatter the glass and explode Naoko's head into small giblets._

Gendo would have thanked Mordheim for the coup if he hadn't began seizing the Pilots and potential pilots and imprisoning them in NERV HQ. Gendo knew that he had to act quickly and overthrow Mordheim's regime, before SEELE or the JSSDF decided to intervene and make their own judgements. Hell, as it stood, NERV-Japan was currently isolated from the other facilities around the world, and even the Matsushiro facility had remained loyal to the Akagi forces, which were now headed by the American Branch in Massachusetts, with the whole-hearted support of the incumbent Ackerman administration.

The transfer of Unit 02 from Brazil had also been postponed and it was currently stewing in the Nigerian Confederacy, waiting for the restoration of Authority in Japan.

Which is why he had called in some old favours from a few old friends.

* * *

_Kozou Fuyutsuki_ _bowed to the man before him, before he took a seat._

"_What can I do for you, Mr. Fuyutsuki?" The English man with the greying hair asked, adjusting his lapels as he seated himself._

_Kozou leaned back into his chair, sighing as he did. "Well, Your Majesty, it's about this business with the UN agency NERV. As you have no doubt heard, the Japanese branch has been couped by forces loyal to the Operations Director, Lieutenant Colonel Mordheim, though I suspect he no longer answers to any chain of command."_

_King Charles of the Federal Dominions of the CANZUK Union nodded gravely. "Indeed. It is...unnerving, to see such powerful weapons in the hands of one madman." He looked around the room, which was evocative of earlier Victorian styles. "But I fail to see what I can do about this situation, other than call for a peaceful resolution, Mr. Fuyutsuki."_

_Kozou took a deep breath. "Your Majesty, you know that the Human Instrumentality Committee is in control of the Loyalist NERV facilities, yes?"_

_Charles nodded._

"_Well, you also know about the powerful psychic backlash in the wake of Second Impact?"_

_Charles expression hardened as he nodded. Young Princess Zara, his niece, had been a psycho-__sensitive and had died in the resultant backlash, rather than have her powers bolstered as the other half of the sensitive population got._

"_The Human Instrumentality Committee is controlled by an organisation known as SEELE." Kozou closed his eyes. "They want to cause Third Impact."_

_He opened his eyes, to see Charles blank faced, trying to hold in his anger. "Your brother, Andrew is part of them."_

The effects were instantaneous, as NERV facilities in Canada, Australasia and the British Isles were occupied by the British Army and Prince Andrew was put under house arrest. This meant that Provisional Unit 05, built as a test bed was now under control of British authorities, who, despite Fuyutsuki's prodding and politicking, were loathe to send the Unit and its pilot to Japan, which was essentially a Rogue State, having seized North Korea's Nuclear Arsenal in the Brushfire Wars of post-Second Impact, and which refused to submit to disarmament.

Fuyutsuki groaned in frustration. NERV had no active Evangelions, and they currently had Lilith unguarded: a recipe for disaster if ever he saw one. He continued flicking through news articles and discussions about the topic, as they played across his optical interface, sent from his Neural Bank, a patented Cyberware product, pilfered from SEELE by Fuyutsuki himself. Indeed, Fuyutsuki seemed to have sparked a cybernetic revolution in Western Europe by bringing that tech to Cyberware, which had greatly increased the life expectancy and general education of the region and which was disseminating into Korea, the USNA and Brazil quite quickly, with the Occupied Powers, China and Japan lagging behind the curve quite a bit.

He heard the door click open and a yelled, "I'm home, Uncle Fuyutsuki!", and he knew that Asuka had returned. The redhead walked into the living room where he sat, folding away her umbrella and cursing British weather, before she noticed the grim look on his face.

"What's wrong?" The sixteen year old asked, an English accent coming through from the twelve years in the Isles. Fuyutsuki merely sent the article from his Bank to hers over the wireless connection. "Isn't that a good thing?" She asked, referring to the taking of NERV Assets in the Union.

"The seizure definitely is, Asuka, but the refusal of the government to send Unit 05 to Japan may cost the World a lot more than Second Impact cost us."

Asuka's eyebrows raised in alarm. "W-what!" Fuyutsuki turned his gaze to her.

"I suppose it wouldn't hurt to tell...a potential EVA pilot what's wrong."

Asuka fainted at this tidbit.

* * *

_Makoto Hyuuga drove down the Japanese highway as fast as he could. He needed to get to Tokyo-2. Dr. Ikari had trusted him with this and he would not fail him. He tossed another grenade out the car window, delighting when he got a Section Two car with it._

_Boom for the Boom God._

Makoto popped over the side of the car, spraying the NERV agents with bullets, pushing them back under cover, before he ducked himself, ejecting the spent clip and reaching for another-

Then the NERV guys exploded. Which was quite cool for him, he thought.

At least, he thought that until he noticed he was now surrounded by JSSDF troops, and the headlights of their vehicles illuminated his position in the night.

Slowly lowering his gun, he climbed to his feet, hands up, and took stock of the troops now surrounding him on this quiet country road he had tried to lose the bastards in.

"Hey!" A woman's voice called out, her figure silhouetted by the harsh lights. "You Gendo's guy?"

Makoto nodded, noticing that her silhouette was very curvaceous and appealing, which didn't really have a place at this point in time, but hey, he was a man, so deal with it. "Are...are you Ryoji Kaji?"

Shaking her head, the shape stepped from the light, revealing her striking purple hair and easy grin. "No, but I'm a friend. Misato Katsuragi, at your service."

* * *

_Shinji stared in shock. His AT-Field had just shattered the Angel. Literally, just broke it into pieces. His hands trembled as he took them from the butterfly grips, before a sudden calmness gripped him and for a moment, he heard his mother's voice soothing his nerves as he drifted off to sleep..._

"No change in his condition?"

"No, Commander Mordheim, pilot is still in a comatose state. No signs of waking yet."

"Damn. Even if we have to use Unit 01, we need something!"

"Yes, sir."

* * *

"_Hey, get offa me!"_

"_Touji!"_

"_Mari, stay back! Don't come any clos-"_

_There was a gunshot._

"_MARI!"_

Touji woke up in a cold sweat again. It kept replaying. The moment NERV had conscripted him, and when they shot his little sister. She had just tried to pry them off him. She just tried to protect him. She hadn't done anything wrong! And now, he didn't even know if she was alive or not, because there was no news getting in from the outside.

He had seen Kensuke, Goro and Hikari being bundled into cells, so they must be in the same boat. They seem to have soundproofed the walls, he can't hear anything from the next cell and they can't hear from him. Neither did they allow him to keep his own clothes. Instead, he got issued scrubs to wear in his cell and had a skin tight "plug suit" for testing, which made him feel self-conscious and uncomfortable.

He hoped the government or the UN or someone would get him out soon. He missed his family.

* * *

Howard Ackerman, President of the United States of North America, sat with his hands clasped in front of him in the Oval Office, smiling genially at his guest. The sun poured in around him, and to Ackerman, it just looked so pleasant.

To his guest, Nicolae Carpathia, SEELE 09 and American member of the HIC, it was downright creepy.

"How are you, Nicolae?" Ackerman asked, his smile never wavering. Nicolae pulled at his collar, feeling hot and nervous.

"Fine, sir."

"That's good."

They sat there for several more minutes in the tense silence.

"Uh, if I may ask, sir-"

"You're fired."

"...What?"

Ackerman waved his hands dismissively, before pulling a cigar out and lighting it. "As our rep to the aych-eye-see. You're fired. Get out."

Nicolae jumped to his feet, furious. "You can't fire me!"

"Just did."

Nicolae had no idea how to respond to that, so he simply asked, "Why?"

Ackerman took the cigar from his mouth, blowing smoke out with it. "Well, I saw what the brits did, and thought, 'Wow, I want me some ah that', so I'm firing you, and occupying the NERV bases, and finishing construction on Three and Four." He paused. "And besides, what's to stop the real enemy from doing the same?"

Carpathia's blood ran cold, just as the clouds seemed to meet, blocking the sun. "R-real enemy?" _Surely he can't be talking about SEELE?_

"Yeah, those damn Commies in Brazil!" Carpathia deflated in relief. "We need to take a hard line! Like what President McCarthy did when we beat the Soviets in World War two! Hell, if Two gets sent back to Brazil, what's to stop them taking it, painting it red and using it on the Pacific Fleet? NOTHING! THAT'S WHAT!"

Nicolae blinked. "Er-"

"Shut up. Get out."

* * *

Kaworu loved downtown Berlin. There were hardly any occupying soldiers about, which was good. They always made him sad, to see his Motherland restrained like a bear. And the modern buildings which towered into the sky and advertised various goods on their giant video screens were very nice too.

All in all, his day was going well, until he accidentally bumped into someone. "Oh, sorry, sir," he said in German.

His blood ran cold as the stranger replied, "It's fine, Tabris," in crisp English.

He could only utter the name he had feared he would find again. "Kane."


End file.
